DEFENCE

Final Report From The Depleted Uranium Oversight Board

Derek Twigg: The Depleted Uranium Oversight Board (DUOB) was established in 2001 to oversee a screening programme for veterans of the 1991 Gulf conflict and subsequent Balkans operations concerned about possible exposure to depleted uranium. Testing based on the analysis of urine samples for trace quantities of uranium isotopes was offered between 2004 and 2006. A total of 496 applicants completed the test.
	The final report of the DUOB is now available and can be accessed from the website www.duob.org.uk. The board was unable to achieve complete consensus on the interpretation and significance of the test results. However, no evidence of the excretion of depleted uranium was found in the urine of any of the test participants. According to mainstream scientific and medical opinion, this means that none had suffered an exposure to DU of sufficient magnitude likely to cause a risk to their health.
	I welcome these findings and believe they will have provided valuable reassurance and peace of mind to the veterans concerned.

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